130 A Century of Science 



ment in the direction of toleration, which is a neces- 

 sary condition for the development of free think- 

 ing. When we have arrived at a truly cordial 

 toleration of opinions, allowing to all free play to 

 stand or fall, just as hypotheses in science are suf- 

 fered to stand or fall, then is men's thought for the 

 first time really untrammelled. Whatever, there- 

 fore, tended toward toleration of diverse forms of 

 creed or worship was a step in the path that led 

 to free thinking ; and whatever tended to demo- 

 cratize the church and relieve it from state control 

 was a step toward toleration. The revolt of Henry 

 VIII. at first but realized what the prcemunire 

 statutes of Edward I. and Edward III. had threat- 

 ened. But by breaking up the religious orders, 

 expelling abbots from Parliament, and making the 

 headship of the church a subject of fierce dispute, 

 it contributed immensely to weaken and relax the 

 bonds of conservatism, and it afforded a rare op- 

 portunity for the thoughts of laymen and small 

 preachers to assert themselves. Thus the Lollard- 

 ism which had been partially suppressed for more 

 than a century now reared its head again defi- 

 antly, and, after learning lessons in democracy 

 from Calvin, came forth as Puritanism, clad in full 

 panoply for one of the world's most fateful con- 

 tests. 



